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Topic: Armchair GM 2018-2019 (Read 187 times)

Bored without games, so just for kicks here's an armchair plan for next season:

1) Trade Zaitsev for Weber. Weber's the superior player but his contract is still pretty bad even if you're looking at it optimistically. If the Habs decide to make big changes and retool/rebuild then this gives them a younger righty who is signed long-term and can fit their future window much better. If you're opinion of Zaitsev falls closer to mine then there's no way Montreal makes this deal. But if you're opinion of him falls closer to Babcock's then I think it's pretty fair. Maybe tinker a little but it's a good start.

2) Sign Thornton to a 1-year deal worth $8mil. It's the same contract he signed last summer with San Jose. The Sharks will bow out in the 1st round and decide that money is better spent elsewhere. Thornton will join his buddy Marleau. The deals an overpayment but it's better than spreading it out over 2 years. Tavares would of course be preferable here but I'm going to assume he's dumb and will re-sign with the Islanders.

3) Make a big push for Tanev. The Leafs will still need a partner for Gardiner. Offer them Brown, Carrick, and 1st rounder to get the deal done. Overpayment? Maybe. Carrick's basically a throw-in and the plan is for that 1st rounder to be 29th-31st overall in 2019 though.

4) Sign Nylander to a long-term contract extension with a $7mil AAV. Might be a little lower, might be a little higher.

5) Trade Martin... somewhere. For something. I don't care where or for what.

That 4th line/extra forwards are a mystery, and after a few years of having so many different possibilities there it's a little sad I'm coming up with blanks there. Aaltonen could be one of them I guess. For cap purposes below, I'm going to assume each of those 4 x's will have a combined cap hit of $4mil.

That above roster, PLUS Horton's contract would put us at about $75mil for the cap. We could have up to $4.5mil in bonus penalties too that carry over from this season. The last estimate was that the salary cap for 18/19 would be around $78-82mil. So we'd be right at the edge of the cap, which is fine because that allows us to get maximum benefit from LTIR'ing Horton.

For the 2019-2020 season, Hainsey and Thornton will be off the books and the plan is to clearly ditch Marleau's contract somewhere. So that'd be $17.25mil in cap space added there. That's right about enough to get Matthews and Marner re-signed. Possibly $4mil more if Dermott's play allows us to walk away from Gardiner.